


Professor Harry

by mad_martha



Series: Coming Home [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-09
Updated: 2011-07-09
Packaged: 2017-10-21 04:59:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/221199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mad_martha/pseuds/mad_martha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief glimpse of Harry's working day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Professor Harry

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes I write snippets of scenes from my established series that aren't part of the original story per se and aren't likely to go anywhere - they just pop into my head and I write them down to add a bit more illumination into the characters. That's all this is really.

"So … let's discuss things that seem dark but aren't necessarily so," Harry said to the assembled second year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws.  "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

There was a pause, then Sirius reluctantly put up his hand.  He didn't much like drawing attention to himself in his father's classes.

"Werewolves," he said almost defiantly, and Harry nodded.

"Good start.  Yes – until very recently werewolves were actually classified as beasts, but except for one day in each lunar cycle they're ordinary people, indistinguishable from other humans.  So why are werewolves considered to be dark creatures?"

"Because they only prey on other humans," one Ravenclaw boy said.

"Why does that make them dark?" Harry asked.  There was a confused silence, and he smiled.  "Vampires prey on humans all the time – not because they can't live on blood from other creatures, but because they prefer human prey.  And I hate to point this out, but even ordinary humans have a pretty nasty record of preying on other humans.  So, a werewolf is human for most of its life, but one night a month loses form and senses.  Of course, these days werewolves can take the advanced Wolfsbane Potion and retain human faculties and control during the change, rendering them harmless.  Okay, let's move on.  Any other examples?"

Another long pause, but finally a girl put her hand up and said rather timidly, "Parselmouths."

"Five points to Ravenclaw.  I hoped someone would say that."  Harry stopped pacing at the front of the classroom and perched on the edge of his desk.  "Okay – Parselmouths.  A Parselmouth has the ability to speak Parseltongue – snake language.  It's an ability you're born with and it's very rare.  So why's it considered dark?"

"Ugh – talking to _snakes_ ," one Gryffindor girl said, screwing her face up.

"It's considered dark because it was the gift of Salazar Slytherin," Tobias Bones said boldly.

"That's true," Harry agreed, "but like I said, it's something you're born with, not something you wilfully or even accidentally learn.  If you're a perfectly nice person, does it still make you evil?"

"Salazar Slytherin wasn't nice!" someone said incredulously.

"Knew him well, did you?" Harry asked, amused.  "Remember, the chroniclers all say he was Godric Gryffindor's dearest friend.  Besides, we're not talking specifically about him.  We could be talking about … me.  As I'm sure some of you already know, I'm a Parselmouth.  Am I evil?"

"Only when you hand out homework," Sirius said, causing a ripple of laughter to go through the class.

"I'll remember that when you hand in your Hinkypunk essay," Harry told him with a grin.  "No, seriously – does being a Parselmouth make me evil?"

"Well … no," Sirius said uneasily, "but you weren't born with it, were you?"  He flushed and Harry knew he was the only one who knew why.  "You got it from Lord Voldemort."

An odd little frisson went through the class at the name.

"That's true," Harry said easily, "but the effect is the same.  You can't learn Parseltongue.  You can learn all sorts of non-human languages – Gobbledegook, Mermish, Dracon – but not Parseltongue, because it's not really a language in the way that other languages are.  It has no formal structure that relates to human-like thought patterns.  It's truly a magical gift.  So what's the problem with it?"

Silence.

"It's okay," Harry said at length.  "There's no right or wrong answer here, because I don't think anyone knows.  If anything it's evil by association, because so many Parselmouths also became dark wizards."

A Ravenclaw boy put his hand up.  "Are there many Parselmouths around today, Sir?"

"It's a very rare gift," Harry reminded him.  "I only know of two – myself and one other – but there could be more who are hiding it.  That would be understandable."

"So who's the other one, Sir?" Noah Harnett asked curiously.

"I don't think I – " Harry began, but Sirius interrupted him.

"Me, you prat," he said, red-faced.  "It's an inherited gift, isn't it."

There was a startled hush, and everyone swivelled round in their seats to look at him.  Sirius couldn't look anyone in the eye, but Harry felt a burst of pride in his son for taking the bull by the horns and saying it out loud.

"You can speak to snakes?" Tobias said, astonished.  "You never told us!"

"That is so cool!"  Noah was delighted.  "What kind of stuff do they say?"

Sirius looked at Harry in a rather panicky way and Harry quickly intervened.

"Most snakes are very simple creatures," he said.  "They're interested in food, safe places to bask - that sort of thing.  And they're _really_ surprised when a human speaks to them."

There was a burst of laughter from the class, making Harry grin.

"The exception to that rule is a basilisk or a naga," he continued.  "They're more intelligent and have almost human-like thought patterns.  But since either of those creatures would be trying to kill you, there wouldn't be many opportunities to discuss the meaning of life with them."

"Did you really kill a basilisk when you were at school?" Sirius asked suddenly.

Harry stared at him.  "Who on earth told you that?"

"Marius Weasley," Sirius said a little defensively.  "He said his dad told him."

"Merlin!  Well … yes, I did, but it was more by luck than judgement and it very nearly killed me in the process!  It bit me."

"Did it talk to you, Sir?" a girl asked eagerly.

"Not directly.  It was under someone else's control at the time, but I could hear it talking to itself as it moved through the pipes in the school wall."  Harry shook his head ruefully.  "I didn't know I was a Parselmouth at the time and I thought I was going mad."

"Someone was controlling it!" Noah sounded even more delighted, if that was possible.  "Who would do that?"

"Lord Voldemort," Harry said dryly.

"But – but wasn't he dead for a while?" another girl asked anxiously.

"Yes, he was – well, sort of.  But that's a subject for your History of Magic class!  We've wandered quite a bit off topic here.  Getting back to things that seem dark for no apparent reason …."

 

 **_\- finis -_ **

 


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